Wednesday, November 30, 2016

I scheduled myself to do my online WW training tonight, as I have a very busy 3+ weeks ahead of me (as do most of you, I imagine!), but I went for dinner at a fabulous restaurant with my dear coworker friend Rekha after work, and indulged in two glasses of wine and much wonderful Italian food, so nope, screw that. Not gonna happen. I also have the last 200+ pages of my Book Club book to read tonight (doable, I've read 400+ pages in the last 2 nights).

I'm a bit of an overachiever wannabe. Go figure.

But let's talk clothes. This outfit got a lot of positive reactions today, which surprised me since it didn't get as strong a reaction as the first time I wore it. I think it's the tights.

Dress - Seduce, consignment; first worn here in August while I was being whiny

Shoes - Esoteric Temptations Odette, Fluevog; last seen here way back in December 2015 with navy and chartreuse]

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

It's getting darker in the mornings, and my poor little point & shoot camera is struggling. Be ready for blurry shots as it desperately tries to focus.

Today was a crazy day, but I felt cool and calm. And swooshy!

Jacket - Boom Boom Jeans, thrifted; last seen here in August with pink

Sleeveless sweater - Ellen Tracy, swap from Caro; last worn here in March under the yeti jacket

Skirt - Jones New York, thrifted; purchased here on the weekend for $15.95

Shoes - Mini Qtees, Fluevog, consignment; last seen here in January with red velvet pants

I swooshed this skirt around for anyone who was interested (not many). I loved wearing it.

I cheated and wore a jean jacket, but to be fair, it does have very formal elements to it, like a peplum and all that quasi-military stuff going on. It flares, and it has flair!

Sheer! And plaid!

Outerwear:

My new-to-me thrifted $12.95 Liz Claiborne wool hat (brim down), and my new-to-me vintage men's thrifted wool/cashmere overcoat (purchased for a whopping $12.00). This is the first wearing of both of these. I think with the fur boa (also thrifted), this is a little too much grey, but eh, whatever, I'll try something else. Maybe hot pink gloves (vs. these wool Parkhurst ones) and matchy scarf? A red hat? A blue hat? So many things to try!

The stuff:

I love these shoes so much. They've been in the Fluevog line for many, many years - I bought these on consignment a few years ago, and they are starting to wear out a bit. I might have to bite the bullet when they do and order another pair...although for the amount I wear them, it's maybe not worth it. But then, I don't have to decide this now!

Thursday was football all day - L and I had Nick and Chris over for beers and chili while we watched. I still had to do my WW meeting that night, so no drinks for me until I got home.

I walked there so I went with super-casual shoes - my WW group was delighted with my floral combat boots.

Blouse - Elite, vintage 80s, thrifted; last seen here in September as business on top

Dress - The Limited, thrifted; last worn here (3rd outfit) in October 2015

Boots - Doc Martens, consignment; last seen here in October for one of my tattoo sessions

Coat (below) - Forever 21, thrifted

I think this blouse is too big on me - the shoulders are too wide. I'm going to keep an eye out for a replacement. Mental note.

This dress has pockets in the front seams (you can see my hand in one above), and is a thick wool. So cute!

Outerwear is the Grape Ape coat.

I'm still not 100% on cream tights. Not sure how long these will last with me.

The stuff:

I subbed in the matchy tie that the blouse came with for this nice floral silk one.

Scarf - Ralph Lauren, consignment

Earrings - thrifted

L and I spent Friday on the couch recovering from the previous night's fun and games, then got ready for two events that night. We went from super-formal to super-casual venues, so it was tricky to pull that off.

Boots - Adrian Agnes, Fluevog; last seen here (3rd outfit) in January for a surprise cowgirl birthday

Our first stop was the Union Club, a very hoity-toity uptight place. Our friend Norm is moving to Saskatchewan, and this was our final chance to wish him the best. L was wearing a jacket with a skull and crossbones on the back and they made him take it off(!). I buttoned my jacket all the way up to hide my WW tee (no kinds of logos allowed - yes, seriously) and my leather skirt.

But there is no stopping Wonder Woman!

After the stuffiness of the Union Club, we grabbed a drink and some pizza before meeting up with a gaggle of friends to go see The Pack A.D., a Canadian duo from Vancouver. Link here (linking 'cause I love!) - if you like the White Stripes, they are very similar, with two women who are wickedly good at what they do. There are videos and links to their songs - please check 'em out!

I have to share this from their website, because Sugar Nightclub (where we saw them) is one of those venues with sticky carpet (ew).

The Pack A.D. is also one of Canada’s “must-see” bands. Be it a massive stadium or the slightly seedy bar where everybody’s shoes stick to the carpet, the Pack A.D. have owned every spotlight and stolen every show they’ve ever played. Becky and Maya are relentless and riveting, playing with the kind of fuck-off freedom that makes everybody in the room vicarious rock stars, even if it’s just for the night.

It was a moshin' good time! I would go see them again in a heartbeat. We also enjoyed the two opening bands, Vancouver Island group Malahat (kind of a cross between Led Zeppelin and death metal, link here) and Smash Boom Pow, another Vancouver duo, featuring two brothers (link here). I preferred Smash Boom Pow - too bad they didn't have any merch for sale or I would have bought their EP.

*ahem* Back to clothes! I haven't worn this cotton pin-striped coat in a long time - nearly 2 years! It's such a cool piece, but is a bit tricky to style.

Sugar Nightclub makes you check your coats, so I wore outerwear accoutrements that I could stuff in my purse. Screw you, I don't check my coat at seedy nightclubs. Wool fingerless gloves by Parkhurst, and a thrifted fur boa.

And lest you think I looked classy (hee) all night, this is when I got home, a bit wet from the rain, and all tuckered out from the music.

These tights were purchased on clearance at the Gap many years ago.

The stuff:

These boots are still very stiff after a few years, so I only wear them when I'm committing to having them on for a while. I walked to and from town in these, and basically hung out in them for about 9 hours total.

On Saturday, L and I went for brunch.

A nice stroll to town in a light rain. 'Tis that time of year - rain.

Dress - Desigual by Christian Lacroix, thrifted; last seen here (3rd outfit) in late March

Shoes - Two Lips, thrifted; last worn here in December 2015(!) with shiny and brocade

Coat (below) - Danier Leather

I left these uncropped, as I like L getting ready to go in the background.

I love this dress. The chunk of design up near my face is all beaded and embroidered over the printed pattern.

I'm shocked that Vizzini isn't pouncing after L's shoelaces. He must have been sulking under the bed.

Outerwear:

Just my Parkhurst mustard yellow fingerless gloves, but I wished I'd worn a scarf or hat, since I got caught in the rain in the afternoon.

The stuff:

This is the last wearing of these long-toed loafers. They rubbed and were not comfortable. Funny how shoes that once were just fine can go to being just a big "no."

Earrings - local

I paid $2.00 for these leather, Italian-made shoes, purchased here in September 2012. Let's go for a stroll down memory lane and see how my cost-per-wear has been - I suspect very good.

In March 2013, for our trip to Vancouver here (the first time we met up with Melanie!)

Worn 5 times in the November 2012 capsule during my "30 for 30 for 12" challenge (November's recap here)

So, including this weekend, that's 16 wears - that's about 12.5 cents per wear. Thank you, tan loafers for four years of good use. Time for you to go to a new home.

After brunch, I went for a little thrift shop. It feels like I haven't shopped in a while, and I wanted some "me time" and retail therapy. My first stop was the St. Vincent de Paul, where I found these fabulous cotton/lycra leopard-print skinny cropped pants.

I love them. And for $4.00, they were mine.

HA! I just discovered that the brand Mark. is by Avon! (link here, 'cause I love). Oh, Avon.

I popped into Head Over Heels, a local shoe store, because it was Shop Local Saturday, and they had 10% off everything. I get a lot of my locally-made jewelry there - very nice quality stuff. Link here.

This bracelet is by Glee - it's a very small bangle (yay!). I have very small wrists, so it's always a bonus to find a bangle that won't go flying off. This was $18.00 + 10% off.

I strolled in the rain over to the WIN Warehouse store, where this grey wool hat hopped into my cart.

As you can see by the spots, I wore it immediately both to keep the rain off me, and because, well...it's cool.

It was $12.95.

And it's by Liz Claiborne. The brim can be flipped up (as shown), or angled down, which is a nice dramatic look.

I found a pair of brand-new textured tights from Ann Taylor Loft for $7.95, still in the package.

Regular price was $14.95.

I fell for this lovely silk skirt - it's by Jones New York and was $15.95.

"I'm here so that your readers can see your ugly slippers and the steamer hose."

I love the subtle red/blue/yellow/white plaid. It's almost a painty texture.

The outer layer is sheer, and the inner layer is thicker, but still plaid and still silk.

I don't know what drew me to these, but when I put them on (I was wearing the "how did this happen" uncomfortable loafers, remember), my feet were all like, "You should buy these."

Oh, man, they are comfy! These are Sperry Topsiders and I don't know if they've been worn more than a couple of times.

Barely any wear inside (love that shiny tie fabric!).

They are a lovely maroon leather.

Good tread for walking - again, barely any wear.

I'm having a 90s flashback. I wore the imitation version of these back then (I think mine were cheap Hush Puppies!).

And yeah, these were $22.95. Well worth it! Sperry doesn't seem to have this style right now (penny loafers with this thick lug sole), so I'm guessing these may well be vintage 90s shoes. They were pretty dusty when I got them.

I think I have a black jacket issue, as in, I have many black jackets. Well, here is another one.

A bit hard to see here, but the bottom half of the sleeves and the lining of the lapels (which are uneven) are a butter-soft leather. The rest of it is a woven crepe with a sort-of brocade-like pattern (you can see this better below).

I spent some time in the fitting room trying to figure out how this is supposed to do up.

I took this picture outside the bathroom for better light. What's in that frame on the right? Stay tuned...

There are a couple of handmade silver hooks - one at the upper neck and one in the waist region, plus an inside button. It has side pockets but they haven't been opened.

Wee! It's by Helmut Lang! Made in the USA.

It was only $19.95 due to someone ravaging it with scissors to remove (I'm guessing) the shoulder pads.

Tsk, what a shame. However, I see that Helmut Lang's jackets are around $350+, and this butchery doesn't actually look noticeable when wearing it, so I'm fine with my $20 spent.

I couldn't find this specific design anywhere online so I have no idea how old it is.

Oh, and just for fun, this is what's in the frame where I took the above picture of the jacket.

It's counted cross-stitch and it's a quote from the movie "Shaun of the Dead" (an excellent zombie romantic comedy, aka a "zom-rom-com"). L and I refer to our local pub as The Winchester because of that movie.

I also found this amazing coat. Me and coats...

It's a two-tone cream, with the thicker areas a woven cotton and the thinner areas (the neck and hemline) more like a raincoat material.

The back:

It has a great shape - and the sleeves are only just past the elbows. Time to break out the elbow-length leather gloves, I think!

A bit on the pricey side (but it's a good cause), but their coats tend to be over $1,000.00 (yes, a THOUSAND dollars!), so I'm pretty happy with this. It also looks very cool on.

I'd hoped to have time for a nap after my shopping trip, but no.

Time to get dressed! It's my company Christmas party!

Just enough light to get in a stair picture (at 4pm in the afternoon).

Not a terribly exciting outfit. The pants were good. I'll be making a work outfit out of them for later this week.

This sweater is officially weekend wear. I'm still wearing it.

My Octo-coat makes its first appearance in a while. I tend to wear it on rainy days - it's the only coat I own with a hood.

Mustard wool fingerless gloves (Parkhurst) and I'm ready to roll. I've had this coat since the Smoking Lily sample sale in February 2012 (here), where I bought it for $168.00. Smoking Lily makes all their clothes here in Victoria - this is called the Pippa coat. It is denim on the outside and fleece on the inside.

The stuff:

No stuff for you, only boots. I didn't wear any jewelry today - and no make-up either!